Well my 2000 SE wagon has been having this idling problem and the power is..well not there unless I floor it. When I start it up it will run so ruff it will some times stall out or will barely run for a few seconds then it will pick back up. If you give it a little throttle to keep it from dying it will pick up but as soon as you let off it will still run bad for a few seconds then will run kinda ruff but not to bad. Also, the exhaust note is I feel not right (makes a tutututututututut sound if that makes any sense I'm sure it doesn't but I tried lol) and the battery light comes on after a few seconds despite having an alternator that tested out good and cleaning as many body grounds I can find with out completely tearing the whole vehicle apart. The only one I have not checked is the one that looks like its going to the starter. Also if you turn any accessories on (like head lights or blower motor) the engine speed drops.

My 03 sedan was doing similar things to this, not quite as severe but as I would drive mine, I would randomly have all my dash lights come on and I would lose all power to my car immediately until I stopped the car. I changed my battery, re grounded the battery with a 1/0 gauge wire to the chassis and ran a new 1/0 gauge wire from the + battery to the alternator and I haven't had a single problem since...I then finished the big 3 upgrade and not a problem in the past 10k+ miles

My 03 sedan was doing similar things to this, not quite as severe but as I would drive mine, I would randomly have all my dash lights come on and I would lose all power to my car immediately until I stopped the car. I changed my battery, re grounded the battery with a 1/0 gauge wire to the chassis and ran a new 1/0 gauge wire from the + battery to the alternator and I haven't had a single problem since...I then finished the big 3 upgrade and not a problem in the past 10k+ miles

I see. Thanks! I replaced the battery terminal cable going from the batt. to the alt. and it worked a little. But yeah this thing is utterly gutless. And I feel its destroying my fuel economy. I floored it yesterday it screamed but did nothing. So how do I get to the wire going to my starter? I suppose Ill have to raise my car on jacks and do it that way?

I see. Thanks! I replaced the battery terminal cable going from the batt. to the alt. and it worked a little. But yeah this thing is utterly gutless. And I feel its destroying my fuel economy. I floored it yesterday it screamed but did nothing. So how do I get to the wire going to my starter? I suppose Ill have to raise my car on jacks and do it that way?

Thanks,
Patrick!

I have never ran a new wire to the starter. I just have a 0 guage from the + battery to the alt +; then battery - to chasis ground; then battery - to engine ground; and engine to chasis ground. I've never personally touched the starter, but it can probably be done. If your engine is lacking power like that, go through and change the air filter, or do what i did to mine and make it a SRI with a K&N or Spectre filter, get better spark plugs (i have NGK iridium) new plug wires (8.5mm high energy suspension) and a new coil pack. Then get some throttle body cleaner and clean your TB and and make sure the cable (if its a cable driven TB) is tight and when the pedal is at full throttle the TB plate is at 90degrees. Other than that get a tune possibly done to the engine. If THAT doesnt do it...i have no clue what is wrong because doing all that worked for mine like a charm. And i am currently running an aftermarket head unit, 2 12" subs and a 1500W amp off everything and still havent lost power or had light dimming.

Thanks! I just ran a thicker cable to the body ground from the battery today it helped a little bit. Im not looking to street the thing, its just a beater Im trying to bounce. And wow thats a lot of goodies to run on that!! And the thicker ground cable didnt help. Im gonna guess the alternators about to take a shit on me. It does need a new air filter but I know this is electrical related for sure. So looks like its time for a air filter and alternator.

Thanks! I just ran a thicker cable to the body ground from the battery today it helped a little bit. Im not looking to street the thing, its just a beater Im trying to bounce. And wow thats a lot of goodies to run on that!! And the thicker ground cable didnt help. Im gonna guess the alternators about to take a shit on me. It does need a new air filter but I know this is electrical related for sure. So looks like its time for a air filter and alternator.

Yeah i didnt street mine...Yet I just wanted a little better performance and response to it until i get to street it out. Yeah all the audio is on the stock alternator and works like a charm, also helps that i do have a little background in electrical systems and engineering.

This is just to hold me over until i get my custom built engine with all forged internals and my turbo build up and running

Yeah i didnt street mine...Yet I just wanted a little better performance and response to it until i get to street it out. Yeah all the audio is on the stock alternator and works like a charm, also helps that i do have a little background in electrical systems and engineering.

This is just to hold me over until i get my custom built engine with all forged internals and my turbo build up and running

Wow that sounds like that little guy should scoot lol. How fast was your car stock? Because my little 2.0 can barely move that wagon body around lol

In the original post it said you had the alternator tested but it didnt say anything about having the battery tested. Have you had the battery tested.

A 2000 SE wagon would have had a likely manufacturing date of late 1999 early 2000. Most quality aftermarket batteries have a 10 year warranty. Its 2013
and OEM batteries usually don't have any warranty. Its sounds like you just need a new battery.

Get your battery tested. Big 3 upgrade is good. But it requires a good battery to be useful.

Battery was tested. Its a good battery. Although it may be possible, I doubt even with a bad battery the whole car would run like crap even under no load or anything. Are there any fuses I should look at? I check the fuses in the fuse box in the eng. compartment and all were still good.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the Ford Focus Forum, Ford Focus ST Forum, Ford Focus RS Forum forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.